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Kentwood Board approves robotics curriculum, Chromebooks and travel for EKHS competition
Summary
The Kentwood Board of Education voted March 9 to fund a Project Lead The Way robotics course ($128,448), purchase 1,300 Chromebooks ($455,000) and pay $73,560 for an EKHS team trip; an HP server purchase ($92,000) was also approved. Funding sources were listed in each motion.
The Kentwood Board of Education on March 9 approved several instructional and technology purchases, including a robotics curriculum, 1,300 Chromebooks and travel funding for an EKHS competition.
Trustee Tanya Powell-May moved to purchase materials and training for the Project Lead The Way Robotics & Automation Gateway course for Crestwood and Pinewood Middle Schools at a cost of $128,448, to be paid from the FY26 General Fund; Trustee Marlon Brown supported the motion and it carried. Superintendent Kevin Polston had introduced the superintendent’s report noting the district’s recent awards and upcoming board retreat.
Secretary Allen Young moved, and Treasurer Pete Battey supported, a $73,560 payment to Grand Classroom to fund the East Kentwood High School “We the People” team’s travel to the national competition in Washington, D.C., April 16–20. The board approved that expenditure, which the motion noted would be covered using Secondary Instruction, Business Office and EKHS building fund accounts.
Trustee Kim Taboada-Arzate moved, supported by Trustee Marlon Brown, to purchase 1,300 Chromebooks with associated Google licenses, configuration and cases at a cost not to exceed $455,000, funded from General Funds and Sinking Funds; the motion carried. The board also approved the purchase of an HP server from Sentinel Technologies, at a cost not to exceed $92,000, to be funded from 2021 Bond Funds (motion by Marlon Brown, supported by Kim Taboada-Arzate; the motion carried).
The combined total of the four approved expenditures is $749,008. The board minutes record only that each motion “carried”; no roll-call vote tallies were provided in the meeting minutes. The superintendent’s report included additional district items, including the 2025 MSPRA Gold Medallion award and recognition of an EKHS wrestling state champion.
Board President Mimi Madden opened the meeting and explained audience participation rules, citing Bylaw 9115 and PA 267, Sec. 3(5). The board’s next steps for the approved purchases were not detailed in the minutes beyond funding sources; implementation timelines and vendor contracts were not specified in the recorded motions.
